my2cents

In Namibia’s north-west it’s comfortably warm in winter – even during the night (unlike in the more central regions). Last night I used the sleeping bag as a blanket and we had the “windows” in the roof tent all rolled up. The constant exchange of fresh air inside the tent apparently works everything but detrimental for a good night’s rest. I slept like a baby.

I’m the first to get up and I use the time to heat up the donkey shower. It’s a good feeling to be up first and to do good for the group. Since I really learned to enjoy off-road driving here in Namibia I’m very much looking forward to the route today: Van Zyl’s Pass is waiting! I’m eager to find out what it’s really like. All the stories I heard and read, how much of it is true?

For breakfast we prepare “Geröstel” (fried potato chunks and onions) left-over in the fry pan. It tastes fantastic! While we have breakfast a Himba boy from the nearby village shows up to collect the campsite fee. As many other campsites in remote areas the Van Zyl’s Pass camp is a Namibia community project. Since the boy doesn’t speak English he simply hands us a brochure with the fees neatly listed. His eyes glance hungrily over our rich breakfast table and we give him some oranges and fill a plate with Geröstel for him. His bony body makes it obvious that at least part of the community lacks ample food supply.

Pumping the tires again once the vehicles are out of the river bed

As the campsite is located in the middle of a sandy river-bed we had to release some air from tires before returning to the road to Van Zyl’s pass.

The drive through the mountains to the pass is simply fantastic! The extremely rugged road and the very slow pace that results from that is responsible that at least the co-driver  can enjoy the scenery. The pass itself is less demanding than anticipated. It is very demanding for the cars obviously but with a car like the Land Rover TD4 it’s fine as long as the driver is alert. You don’t need to be an off-road super-guru. You shouldn’t attempt that route alone, though. If your car breaks down you’re lost. youtube.com has a number of videos that give you a good impression of the pass.

It's customary to tell the world that you (or your car rather) mastered Van Zyl's Pass

The sandy earth road in the Marienfluss valley on the other side of the pass is pure horror, though. It’s extremely corrugated and even if you race along with 80km/h it feels like your car is going to fall apart any minute. If you go slower it’s even worse…

The 60km to Camp Synchro seem endless. I just want this to be over, it’s most definitely the flip-side of the off-road medal. After I hit a stone while trying to navigate around particularly bad bump in the road the warning lights start flashing automatically. The respective button on the dashboard doesn’t indicate they’re flashing though and they can’t be switched off either. I’m just happy that the tires didn’t get damaged. In moments like this one realizes how heavily we depend on our vehicles in such remote areas.

Marienfluss valley between Van Zyl's Pass and Camp Synchro

I’m in a foul mood because of the road conditions and I’m angry at myself for letting this influence my mood. I want to be more calm and more positively thinking. We’re on vacation after all. Many people envy us for that. And here I am swearing at a road in bad condition – not very “grown up”. In this mood I have little hope that a pretty camp is expecting us but Camp Synchro is a very positive surprise. It’s like an oasis at the Kunene river. We find lovely spots for our cars overlooking the river and we settle for yet another romantic dinner around candles, torches and a small fire. I even manage to fix the flashing warning lights by disconnecting the primary battery for a second.

→ Namibia 2009 photos

Starting today we’re definitely exposing ourselves to Namibia’s lonely and deserted north-west – we’re heading towards Van Zyl’s Pass.

Passing Okongwati we stop again at the “gas station” we stopped at a few days ago while on the way to Epupa. In the region we’re headed to every drop of petrol counts. The Okongwati gas station is off the main (gravel) road hidden behind a few shacks. You’ll miss it if you simple drive through the village from Epupa to Opuwo or vice-versa. It’s everything from ordinary as it’s got no gas pumps. A quiet lady who doesn’t speak English sits in front of a shack that stores a 2-3 barrels of diesel – and regular if you’re lucky. Sometimes there’s gas and sometimes there isn’t. The gas is transferred from the barrels to you car with canisters or old pet bottles. The fact that this procedure inevitably takes time doesn’t matter. It feels real, we’re in Africa after all.

Gas station in Okongwati

We’re already accustomed to the fact that gas stations in Africa are run by women because men apparently can’t be trusted in southern Africa when it comes to handling money. The boys who help the lady are happy that Thomas presents them with a pair of bright yellow rubber gloves.

The first several kilometers on the D3703 lead us on a narrow soft sand-road through almost lush groves. It’s wonderfully quiet and peaceful. There are no other safari cars and apart from a few Himbas every now and then we don’t see a single soul – it’ll stay that way for the rest of the day. Usually we stop when we see Himbas and give away corn flour or the like. They however would rather have “sweets, sweets”. Thomas & Sandra often give away LolliPops to kids which Akiko & I disapprove of. On the other hand we feel bad to deny them the goodies we ourselves would have liked as when we were kids.

A few kilometers after Okauwe the dust road is supposed to turn from south to south-west. Both my map and the GPS map say so. In reality it’s a little different. There are many tracks in the sandy savanna. When the GPS keeps insisting that we have left the imaginary route we turn around and start looking for the turn that we must have missed. The route we were following isn’t even listed on the GPS maps.

The road condition is getting worse (very rugged) as the day gets longer and longer. Shortly before we reach the Van Zyl’s Pass campsite near Otjitanda we stop at a Himba village. We try to tell the chief that we would like to take a few pictures in exchange for flour. Of course, he speaks neither English nor Afrikaans but our hands proof to be a wonderful secondary communication tool.

The stench in the village is atrocious for our sensitive western noses. The Himba live on the same ground as their goats. Hence, there’s goat and dog poop everywhere. Inside their clay huts the stench is a mix of cold smoke, sweat, excrements and rancid butter. This world is fascinating and repulsive at the same time. I very strongly feel that we shouldn’t even be here, that we should leave these people along. I feel that we’re destroying a precious unique culture just by being here, by taking photos and by letting the Himba see our western gadgets.

Traditional Himba village

The sun will soon set and we have yet to drive some 10km until the camp. In Otjitanda our eyes become big as some brand new solar panels appear next to the road. Apparently, the state installed them to power the water pumps in the tiny village. I hope that our guides don’t stop to take pictures as we’re hungry and don’t feel like putting up our tents in darkness; we’re running late already.

The Van Zyl’s Pass campsite is super pretty and very private. The other two sites appear to be unoccupied and we feel like the only people on this planet. Yet, despite this remoteness there are water tanks for the showers and the toilets at the camp! Apparently they weren’t expecting anyone today – the water pipes are all dry. We follow the pipes back from the showers towards the tanks and eventually find two valves that were closed.

I’m tired, particularly my head is tired. However, Akiko’s presence comforts me. 2 Panadol help against the pulsing head ache and we spend a cozy evening with our friends under the African sky.

Dinner at Van Zyl's Pass campsite

→ Namibia 2009 photos